Panel construction with transverse curvature



L. DAVIDSON 3,456,602

PANEL CONSTRUCTION WITH TRANSVERSE CURVATURE July 22, 1969 Original Filed July 9, 1963 FIG. 2.

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ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent 3,456,602 PANEL CONSTRUCTION WITH TRANSVERSE CURVATURE Louis Davidson, 24 Water-view Road, Oceanside, N.Y. 11572 Original application July 9, 1963, Ser. No. 293,782, now Patent No. 3,351,028, dated Nov. 4, 1967. Divided and this application July 22, 1966, Ser. No. 567,146

Int. Cl. B65d 19/12, 19/16 US. Cl. 10856 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This specification discloses a load-bearing industrial pallet supported by legs which are formed by panels displaced from the material of the platform of the pallet and bent along score lines to form a generally V-shaped support. The score lines along which the panel is hinged to the platform, and along which one panel of the leg is hinged to the other, at the bottom of the leg, are curved so that the panels are forced into a transverse curvature that gives them greater resistance to bending under the load of the pallet.

Background of the invention and related patents Industrial pallets of constructions suitable for manufacture from corrugated paperboard and other stifi sheet material are disclosed in Davidson patents, No. 2,951,669, issued Sept. 6, 1960; No. 3,004,742, issued Oct. 17, 1961; and No. 3,099,969, issued Aug. 6, 1963. This application discloses an improvement on these earlier patents and is a division of my co-pending application Ser. No. 293,782, now Patent No. 3,351,028, issued Nov. 4, 1967.

The legs of the pallets disclosed in these patents are preferably formed of the same material as the platform of the pallet and generally by displacing material from the pallet, the displaced material remaining connected with the pallet along one side which is scored to form a hinge line on which the displaced material is bent downwardly at an angle to the platform to form the leg. The leg is usually bent back on itself at a midpoint which forms the bottom of the leg. The panel which is bent upwardly diverges from the downwardly extending panel to give the leg a strong triangular cross section. In some cases, the panels are joined by a narrow flat area forming a connecting panel which increases the area at the bottom of the leg.

This invention further increases the strength of the legs of such pallets by giving the downwardly extending panel a curvature in a direction transverse of its downward extent so as to make the panel more resistant to bending under the load on the pallet. The upwardly extending panel can also be made with a transverse curvature and this curvature is imparted to the panels by bending them along curved score lines where they join adjacent panels or join the platform.

Brief description of the invention The feature of this invention by which panels folded along score lines which join the panels with a board material from which the panels are displaced or which join the panels with other panels, is not limited to loadbearing industrial pallets but can be used also for boxes,

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display signs and other structure which are designed in such a way that they can be made of corrugated paperboard, cardboard, solid flexible fibreboard, plastic, metal, or combinations of these materials.

The invention will be described, however, as applied to pallet legs; and in the preferred construction, the panel is stiflfened by bending it transversely, along at least a portion of its length, in accordance with a curve of the hinge line at which the panel is deflected into angular relation with another part of the structure. The hinge line has a score at which the material bends more easily than at other regions, and by making the line of the score arcuate, the panel can be made to take a transverse bend when fiexed out with the material beyond the score.

For panels of a pallet leg where it is desirable to have curved panels on both sides of the leg, there may be score lines with tangent arcs, or lines that approach one another most closely at their ends, depending upon which way the arcs curve.

The invention increases the stiffness without increasing the weight or cost and it is particularly advantageous for pallets, boxes, display signs and any uses where strength at minimum weight and cost is important.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear or be pointed out as the description proceeds.

In the drawing, forming a part hereof, in which like reference characters indicate corresponding parts in all the views:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary top plan view of an area of a pallet, with a leg formed of material cut from the pallet around three sides and having score lines which cause the panels of the legs to curve transversely when brought into set-up position;

FIGURES 2 and 3 are enlarged sectional views taken on the lines 22 and 3-3, respectively, of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 but showing a modified form of the invention and showing especially a reversal of the direction of curvature of the score lines at which the leg panels hinge when brought into set-up relation; and

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged sectional view, taken on the line 55 of FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 1 shows a construction for pallet legs formed of material displaced from a pallet platform 140. This construction obtains added strength by having a bowed cross section for the panels when the leg is in set-up condition. The pallet has a panel 142 displaced from it and bent downwardly along a bend line 144. This bend line is in arc and is preferably formed by scoring the material of the pallet along the line on which the bend is to be made. At the lower end of the panel 142, there is a short connecting panel 146 to which a third panel 148 is connected. The connecting panel 146 is joined to the panels 142 and 148 along bend lines 151 and 152, and these bend lines are preferably arcs.

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view at the center of the leg of FIGURE 1 formed by the panels 144, 146 and 148. In the construction illustrated, the bend lines 151 and 152 are tangent with one another at the center of the connecting panel 146; but toward opposite sides of the panels 144 and 148, these bend lines 151 and 152 are spaced from one another as shown in FIGURE 3.

The panel 148 has an upper edge 156 (FIGURE 1) 3 which is flush with the top surface of the platform 140 when the panels are set up to form a leg for the pallet. Opposite end portions of the top edge 156 extend into grooves 160 for preventing transverse displacement of the panel 148 when in set-up condition.

Other top edges '162, of the panel 148, bear against the bottom of the platform 140; and tabs 164 extend through slots 166 and then outwardly across the top surface of the platform 140', as shown in FIGURES 2 and 3.

This construction shown in FIGURES 13, where the leg panels are curved when in set-up condition, is useful for imparting additional strength to pallets made of sheet material having a degree of flexibility, such as corrugated board, thin fiberboard, card board or plastic sheets, or metal.

FIGURES 4 and 5 show a modification of the construction shown in FIGURE 1. In this modified construction the leg panels are plane at their upper ends, when in set-up condition, but change to an arcuate contour as they extend downwardly. The parts in FIGURES 4 and 5, corresponding to those in FIGURES 1-3, are indicated by the same reference characters with a prime appended.

The bend line 144 is a straight line, but can be curved. The bend lines 151 and 152 are arcuate, as in FIGURE 1, but the arcs have their centers of curvature on opposite sides from that shown in FIGURE 1. It will be understood that the bend lines 1 and 152 in FIGURE 1 can be made as in FIGURE 4 with their maximum spacing from one another at their center regions; and it will be also understood that the bend lines 151 and 152 of FIGURE 4 can be made with their curvature reversed.

FIGURE 5 shows a tab 164 extending in the opposite direction from the tab 164 of FIGURES 2 and 3. This is to illustrate that the tabs 164 and 164' may extend in either direction since they project through slots which have solid materials on both sides for supporting the tabs.

The preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, but changes and modifications can be made and some features can be used in different combination without departing from the invention as defined in the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A flat sheet cut in part and scored at another part to form a hinge line, the cut and scoring defining a panel connected to the other part of the sheet along the hinge line at which the material of the sheet is bent to put the panel in angular relation to the other part of the sheet, the material being more flexible at said hinge line than at other regions adjacent to the hinge line, and the hinge line' being curved along an arc and the panel takes the shape of a transversely curved surface in the region of the hinge line and the hinged connection of the panel to said other part holding the panel in the region of the hinge line curved in a direction transverse of the direction in which said panel extends at an angle to the part of the structure to which said panel is connected at the hinge line.

2. The structure described in claim 1 characterized by the structure including two panels, the first of which extends angularly away from said other part of the sheet to which the panel is connected, and the second of which is joined with the first panel by a connection including a second hinge line, the second panel folding at said second hinge line back into contact with said other part of the sheet to which the first panel is connected.

3. The structure described in claim 2 characterized by the first panel being connected to the other part of the structure along the curved hinge line, and the panels being in angular relation to one another and diverging from one another'as they extend from the second hinge line toward the other part of the structure, and the second hinge line at which the panels are connected to one another along being also a curved hinge line.

4. The structure described in claim 2 characterized by the panels being connected with one another along two hinge lines with a narrow section of connecting material between the hinge lines.

5. The structure described in claim 4 characterized by the two hinge lines curving in opposite directions and being furthest apart at their mid regions.

6. The structure described in claim 4 characterized by the two hinge lines curving in opposite directions and being closest together at their mid regions.

7. A structure having a panel connected to another part of the structure along a hinge line at which the material of the structure bends to put the panel in angular relation to the other part of the structure, the material being more flexible at said hinge line than at other regions adjacent to the hinge line, and the hinge line being curved so as to impart a curve to the panel in the region of the hinge line and transverse of the direction in which said panel extends at an angle to the part of the structure to which said panel is connected at the hinge line, and characterized by said other part of the structure being generally flat at the region of the hinge line, and the panel being of one-piece construction with said other part of the structure and being made of material displaced from the plane of said generally flat part of the structure, and further characterized by said structure having a plurality of panels with curved hinge lines and curvature transverse of the direction of extent of the panels away from the hinge lines, and means connected with the other part of the structure for holding the panels in angular relation to the other part of the structure and for maintaining their transverse curvature.

8. The structure described in claim 7 characterized by the means connected with the other panels including tabs on one of the panels extending into slots in said other part of the structure, the slots being located along an are having a curvature in the same direction as the curvature of the hinge line of the panel having said tabs.

9. The structure described in claim 8 characterized by the structure being an industrial pallet made of corrugated paperboard and having a generally flat load-carrying platform and having the panels providing a leg for the platform and being made of material displaced from the platform, the first of said panels being connected with the platform along a hinge line and extending downward at an angle away from the platform when the leg is in set-up condition, a second of said panels being connected with the first panel at a region having two curved hinge lines with a narrow area of material between said hinge lines, and the second panel extending back to the under side of the platform and contacting with the bottom thereof by having said tabs extending from the upper end of the second panel at spaced locations along said second panel and extending into the slots, said slots being formed in the platform, and the hinge lines being score lines in the corrugated paperboard.

10. A flexible board material having two contiguous areas of one-piece construction with one another, the material being scored along a line of predeterminer curvature where said areas join one another so that when the material is bent on the score line, at least a part of the board of one area takes the predetermined curve of the score line and the other area remains fiat, said flexible board characterized by three areas, a middle one of which is contiguous to both of the other areas, two score lines along curved lines on opposite sides of the middle area and spaced from one another by said middle area, the board being bent at each score line and the board on one side of each score line curves and that on the other side of the score line remains flat.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,049,231 7/1936 Storch 108111 2,290,144 7/1942 Katz 108-l1l (Other references on following page) UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,092,046 6/ 1963 Davidson 108-52 2 471 53 5 1949 1 3,099,969 8/1963 1 l1 1 2,692,747 V1954 Strauss 3,351,028 11/196-7 Dav1ds0n 10856 2,95 3,339 9/ 1960 Roshon 1055 6 REI N PATENTS 3,004,742 10/ 1961 Davidson 108-55 5 941,492 11/ 1963 Great Britain. 3,036,802 5/ 1962 KitChBll 108-5 6 3,308,772 3 1967 Thomas 108.46 BOBBY GAY, Primary Examiner 2,951,669 9/ 1960 Davidson 108-56 G. O. FINCH, Assistant Examiner UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,456,602 July 22, 1969 Louis Davidson It is certified that error appears in the above identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 3, line 53, "line" should read line. same line 53, beginning with "and the" cancel all to and including "hinge line." in line 58, same column 3.

Signed and sealed this 5th day of May 1970.

(SEAL) Attest:

Edward M. Fletcher, Jr.

WILLIAM E. SCHUYLER, JR.

Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents 

